Letter to the Editor: Free money

There are two types of hangers on the Mineral County Airport; those owned by private individuals and those owned by the county.

The Federal Aviation Administration funded (FREE MONEY) county hangers are rented by the county at about 3 percent of their value per year. Money from the private sector, on the other hand, requires a much greater return; likely about 12 percent. This unfair competition of public money with private money has destroyed the value of the private hangers on the field. The owners cannot rent or sell their hangers for a fair price. This does not bode well for investment in our county!

As part of the grant agreement for the funding of the county hangers the county airport business plan has to show that the airport will receive ‘appropriate revenues for the facility’. The revenue (from rental fees) is to be determined from a comparison of similar facilities in the area. This appears to not have happened in this case with any degree of honesty. There are certainly no private hangers anywhere renting at three percent of their value! That would not even pay the interest on the money!

In a recent public forum this problem was mentioned to county commissioner, Duane Simons. He passed the buck to the airport board, which as a commissioner, he cannot do; the airport board is accountable to the commissioners. Cindy Grimm, as the airport manager, holds responsibility along with the airport board members, but the airport board is hard to pin down. It changes members often and meeting times and agendas are not published in the Mineral Independent.

Is it legal for public money to unfairly compete with private money in a situation like this? Our county attorney has been asked and some time ago promised to look into the situation. She has not. It seems, with her well-known affinity for investigation, she would have gotten right on it!

Sometimes, when ‘FREE MONEY’ is involved’ ethical principles become a bit shaky. If we give authority to people who are willing to make this compromise, we all lose.

Gerry Geske,

Superior